The Invisible Silicon Valley

Nahima Aguiniga (right) and a coworker after meeting with an Intel executive in February 2016. Credit: Silicon Valley De-Bug.

Invisible. That’s how Nahima Aguiniga feels at work. She works as a cashier in the cafeteria run by food service company Eurest at Intel, one of the world’s most visible tech brands. She rings up free food for the “blue badges” – direct employees of the company, many earning six figures – and collects payment from the other “green badges” – the subcontracted workers like her.

Too many of us in this country know what it’s like to feel invisible. I felt it as an undocumented child growing up on San Jose’s East Side, frightened every time a loud knock came on our door that this would be the time we would be taken away. The very nature of many jobs that are subcontracted, temporary or classified as 1099 independent contractors makes them invisible in our economy.

Tech struggles with the lack of diversity in its core workforce of direct employees – only 10 percent are black or Latino, and 25.8 percent in the white-collar occupations are female – and the numbers that companies share mask the reality of who’s actually working on the campuses of this profoundly segregated industry. The company forgets “that 78 percent of us [working in their cafeteria] are women because we don't count in their own diversity reports,” Nahima explained.

58 percent of the workers in the low-wage contracting industries that provide these services to tech companies are black or Latino. These workers average $19,900 per year, compared to $113,300 average earnings for direct tech employees.* These low wages along with high Silicon Valley rents forced Nahima and her two children to move to the Central Valley, leaving her with a three- to four-hour daily commute to Intel and little time with her family.

I learned one night at the San Jose Greyhound terminal that there was another option. I was 8 years old, the drivers were on strike, and my father – a hotel dishwasher turned union leader – brought me with him to help on the picket line. A bus began to drive straight at the picketers. I remember seeing my father illuminated by the headlights as he stepped in front of it and hearing my own screams. But then the entire crowd surrounded him. They stopped the bus that a moment before had threatened to shatter my world.

Ralph Ellison wrote, “America is woven of many strands …. Our fate is to become one, and yet many.” And so we find visibility for each of our individual stories by standing together. Silicon Valley Rising was born two years ago when several dozen workers, housing and health care advocates, clergy members, women’s activists, civil rights representatives, union leaders and allies gathered on a Saturday to seek a shared strategy to address our region’s economic crisis, made invisible by the tech boom. We aim to inspire the tech industry to build an inclusive middle class in Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley Rising community leaders stood with Nahima and her coworkers when they met with Intel management. “It was jaw dropping for me to see all the love and support from perfect strangers who simply believed in the same thing we do," she said. "For once my voice as a woman was heard inside the walls of Intel; [I believe] that I can and will make a change.”

We call on tech to join with us in creating a new economic model for good jobs and responsible employers, raising wages and standards for all workers, and building and preserving affordable and accessible housing. We are standing with food service workers, shuttle bus drivers, security officers and janitors as they fight for better jobs. We are calling on tech companies to protect their subcontracted workforces by committing to responsible contracting. We are fighting for a $15 minimum wage by 2019 across Silicon Valley and access to more hours for part-time workers so that their paychecks can put food on the table. Together, we believe that we can disrupt inequality.

Maria Noel Fernandez is director of organizing and civic engagement for working partnerships USA and campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising.

Comments

SDVeteran (not verified) says:

Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - 13:21

What is the purpose of this article? Are you suggesting that 16-18 year old students going to work for the local fast food be paid $15/hour? How about the millions of workers in these types of jobs - especially those just getting started in the work world. And by the way, there are some significant differences between the liability responsibilities of food service workers, shuttle bus drivers, janitors, and security officers. Please don't insult our intelligence by lumping them all together just so you can somehow hope to unite them into a union or other type of guild. I ask again, why does the DOL use this space to promote unions? That seems biased to me. And considering my tax dollars and payroll tax dollars and my employees' tax dollars are going to fund the DOL, there shouldn't be an obvious bias towards unions.

karl jaensch (not verified) says:

Thursday, June 16, 2016 - 13:43

SDVeteran's biases keep cropping up in his totally predictable responses to DOL articles so I think it's time for someone to respond to him.

The US Department of Labor was created to represent the worker viewpoint in the executive branch of our federal government. This was considered necessary since representing the employer viewpoint had earlier been assigned to the US Department of Commerce.

So, SDVeteran, you can see that DOL is doing its job when it publishes the articles you object to.

Contrary to what you claim, SDVeteran, this article does not show a bias toward unions. It shows a bias toward justice and fairness.

Promoting justice and fairness for workers by protecting them from rapacious employers is exactly what DOL is charged to do.

Statistics show that most fast food workers are not 16-18 year-olds looking to make pin money. They mostly are between 20 and 30 years old, working to support young families with small children.

They typically do this by working multiple jobs -- and also getting public assistance.

Which means that the cheap food you, SDVeteran, buy at fast food restaurants is subsidized by underpaid, overworked parents -- and my taxes.

It's time for you, SDVeteran, to stop whining, man up and pay your fair share.

Snow Moon (not verified) says:

Thursday, June 16, 2016 - 21:19

Keep up the good fight! Knowing the value of your labor and fighting to protect that is important for everyone. As long as the price of goods and services continue to rise there will be a need for paychecks to keep up.

Simon Lari (not verified) says:

Monday, June 20, 2016 - 11:25

With rising prices there needs to be a equal rise in the paycheck every month. So many households around the world and particularly in the U.S find it difficult to cope with the inflation and other costs of living with their sub-par monthly income. The government and the companies should take this factor into consideration and revise the pays of all their employees.